I’m more than a bit concerned. The weather forecast for our area is scattered severe thunderstorms from six this evening to midnight or later.
I wonder if the roofer will put more men on the roof today, or work later to get the roof done. Yesterday they tore off shingles and tar papered at least two thirds of the roof. We figure they will tear off the rest as they begin laying the shingles this morning.
I hope we beat the storms.

Decompressing….is that the term people use when you need to relax from a difficult day??
My day wasn’t hard, but the NOISE….my god…the noise…..
I found it exceedingly difficult to concentrate. I was becoming short-tempered and churlish by the time the roofers were ready to go home. I’ve had about 30 minutes to recover, and I left the T.V. and radio off, and quietly blogged at my desk.
I think we’ll be having wine with dinner tonight.
There’s nothing I can do to avoid the situation. We need to get the roof done. I’ll just arm myself with a list of things to do that don’t require concentration and go at them full speed ahead. I think it’s going to take them about two and a half days to finish.
The good thing is….they quit at 3:30!

I’ve talked about the length of days recently, and the time of day the sun comes and goes, but I haven’t said a lot about the quality of light.
We have a stand of trees that form a crescent around our house from the south west to the northwest. At one time, the land belonged to a landscaper, so there’s considerable variety in that grove. The layer of trees that are closest to the house hold their leaves late into fall, and at this time of year, they turn a beautiful gold. It’s an old gold, overlaid with the lightest hint of blush.
During the day when the sun shines on those leaves, they reflect the most beautiful color into my living room. The west wall of the living room has twelve large panes of glass, six high, six low, that let the world in. The view is gorgeous when trees are just beginning to leaf out, or in the middle of summer with the great variety of greens, or in the fall when the leaves are burnished. It’s even stunning when the trees are bare and you see just the black trunks and branches against the sky.
The past few days the sun has shared that golden color as though it’s a parting gift before winter is on us. Mother Nature helped out on the ground. I was working in the herb garden on Saturday, pleased as punch to be able to get things almost cleaned up. Then, Saturday night it rained, hard! Sunday morning, you could hardly see the garden for all the leaves that had fallen.
Dear Husband refuses to rake until all the leaves are down. I’d rather do it in small bunches (easier on the arms, ya know?) and he’d rather do it all at once on a really cold day.
We’re supposed to have more mild weather this week, so I’m sure that we’ll be working on the grounds. I hope we’ll have a few more days to see the rooms overlaid with golden light.

TODAY’S THE DAY! WE’RE GETTING A NEW ROOF!
Pardon me, I didn’t mean to shout, but I can’t hear. There are at least a dozen, perhaps a lot more, men working on my roof. The boss said there would be about 20 men, if they could find their way to our house. They began showing up at 8:00 this morning and have been working at a furious pace. I took a picture at 9:30 when we left to run errands. They were working on the tear off of the east face of the house.
We returned from errands to find the shingles were being unloaded from a long truck that carries it’s own conveyor. The packets of shingles are all sitting on the roof ridges. Parts of the roof have black tar paper down, but you can still see huge expanses of bare wood. I took more pictures when the guys had their lunch break. And, I suckered the cat into the house. The noise has kept him away. I suspect he will choose to spend the afternoon in the basement.
SO…in a few minutes, lunch will be over and the banging will resume. There’s been a virtual orchestra of sounds going on: the scrape of a spading fork across the wood, the screech of the nails being pulled out, the hammering, and the sound of shingles sliding down the face of the roof. I think we’ll be treated to some new sounds shortly, as the guys resume their work.
I’m sure glad this will only take two days! Pictures later.

Thanksgiving is coming. I’ve already started making lists of what needs to be done. Twelve of my family have said they would be here, and there’s the potential for up to 18 more. I know for sure that the rest won’t be able to attend due to distance or other commitments.
This morning I was pondering the subject of flowers. When you set a table with china, I feel you need to finish the table with some sort of floral arrangement. I have this brochure from a local greenhouse that is advertising Thanksgiving arrangements. The prices for what I could use range from $39.95 to 69.95. I definitely have two tables, and am likely to have a third, and I want an arrangement for the foyer table.
Somehow, it just seems WRONG to spend that much money on flowers when so many people are doing without this year. It would be lovely to just be able to pick up the phone and order, and have one more thing taken care of, but I don’t think I can do it.
When I was a teenager, I took classes in flower arranging. I know the basics, and I know that I can put together simple arrangements and bouquets. I think we will still have flowers, but we won’t be ordering them. I plan to use ceramic pumpkins, and ornamental gourds, candles, and a few flowers.
What I save is going to be given to the local mission so that people who would otherwise do without, will be treated to a full Thanksgiving dinner. It’s not a hardship, and I’ll feel a lot better about it.

I have developed some habits that might be so bad as to be classified as an eating disorder, and I’m trying to make some changes.
I have forgotten what an appropriate portion is. Rather than serve myself some potato chips when I have a sandwich, I’ll take the entire bag with me to the table.
I have taken to wolfing down my meals. Rather than leisurely enjoying each bite, I chomp and swallow with the goal of getting to a clean plate. I finish dinner and I’m still hungry because my stomach hasn’t had the chance to recognize that it is full.
I am addicted to salty food. I really need to make a change here because I can see the effect on my circulation.
I’ve been skipping breakfast and eating between meals.
Now that I’m thoroughly embarrassed, I’ll tell you what changes I’ve made.

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I’ve been watching the light the last few days. We’re trying to adjust to being back to Central Standard Time, and I’ve used the time change to make an adjustment to my sleeping hours.
Dear Husband goes to bed at 9:00 (barring long World Series games!), and I’ll align my sleeping times to his. But, I’ll stay up a night or two to read, and then blogging calls to me one night and office work the next, and gradually I find that I am off schedule by as much as three or four hours. Morning becomes an agony rather than the pleasure it should be, and I rush to make it to exercise. It’s particularly hard on Elegante Mother, who needs a regular schedule, and plenty of time to get where she’s going.

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Yeah…I know the Sox won the World Series last week. I’ve been meaning to write about it every day. Eighty-seven years. Do you believe that the White Sox had to wait 87 years to win another World Series?
I watched all four games. The second one, the one that went fourteen innings was amazing. How could a game be SO slow, and SO dull, and have SO much tension?? After midnight, it was a fight to keep my eyes open. The fourth game, they won by the only run batted in the entire night.
Lest you think I’m complaining, I’m not. Congratulations, guys! You earned those wins, and the right to bask in the sunshine of long awaited success.

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